News

2 dead, students hurt in Nevada school shooting

SCHOOL SHOOTING: Police secure the scene near Sparks Middle School after a shooting in Sparks, Nev., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Authorities are reporting that two people were killed and two wounded at the Nevada middle school. Photo: clipart.com/Kevin Clifford

By Megan Ortiz

SPARKS, Nevada (Reuters) – A staff member was killed and two students were wounded on Monday when a student opened fire at a middle school in the northern Nevada city of Sparks before taking his own life, a county official said.

A police dispatcher said there was no remaining threat at the Sparks Middle School after the early morning shooting, the latest among several in recent years in different parts of the United States. The dispatcher could not provide any information about the student who opened fire.

Washoe County emergency manager Aaron Kenneston said the emergency call reporting the shooting came in at about 7.30 a.m.

Police said the staff member who was fatally shot was trying to intervene.

Terry Bartek, a spokeswoman for the Washoe County School District, which includes Sparks, did not know if classes were already in session when the shooting occurred. Classes at the middle school and a neighboring elementary school were canceled.

“Students from the actual school where the incident happened are being moved to another site to be picked up by parents,” Bartek said.